The Hellhound
by Trying to Put Pen to Paper
Summary: Aithne is something of an oddity. She is neither Yoma or Claymore. Her clan was brutally slaughtered and she now carries a grudge against the Claymore's that did it. With no purpose she seems to have nowhere and no one to turn to. What happens when she takes shelter from a storm in a certain cave in the West?
1. Chapter 1

_Here is a new fic that was written with the help of my good friend Daz. He is not a fanfiction person, but he has some good ideas. Anyway, Claymore is in no way owned by be and is copyright to the original owners. Aithne is copyright to me._

_Leave a review and let me know how this chapter is and if there are any major flaws with it._

**Chapter 1**

Aithne was slowly trudging along the forest path. Her small legs were no longer able to carry her, she had never walked so far in her 12 years. Her golden eyes were clouding over with exhaustion while her clothes were tattered and travel worn. She had on a brown tunic held together with clasps and brown boots. Over all of that was a red cloak sewn at the bottom by her mother so that it could be let down as she grew. The strangest thing about the girl was that under the red hood, she had wolf like ears on her midnight black chin length hair. They weren't just for show, they enhanced her hearing well past that of a normal human, in fact all of her senses were far greater than a humans.

Aithne had many scrapes and scratches from her journey through the forest. She had been traveling for days running from the women that had massacred her entire clan. They had called them Yoma, evil monsters that killed and ate humans. But her clan did no such things. They never hunted humans as, even though they were easy to catch, they always tasted too chewy. Compared to deer, cows and other such fauna that were in the wilds, humans were on the bottom of the taste list. Her clan lived in the high mountains where they cultivated the land and hunted in the forest's surrounding their village. They had loved there for hundreds of years before they were unjustly murdered.

The lack of food and water had severely drained Aithne mentally and physically. Her body finally collapsed as she fell through the bushes, somehow she had stumbled onto someone's camp, not even noticing the scent of food until she was less than two meters away from it.

Aithne heard the sound of boots on the ground moving closer to her and felt her hood being lifted from her head. Shortly following that was a gasp and a call of "Teresa- san." The voice was of someone close to Aithne's own age and female.

"What is she…" The voice of Teresa questioned. "Get back Clare." She warned.

"But she's hurt." Clare replied.

"Even still-" The elder woman's voice was drowned out when Aithne finally faded into blackness.

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><p>Aithne was surprised that she had reawaken. She was sure that she was going to die after her collapse outside the small camp she had stumbled upon. But here she was, not dead. Her wounds were actually bandaged up and she was lying on a bed role. Her cloak was hung up on a low hanging branch. As it was her only memento of her mother, she struggled to reach it, but she did indeed reach it and clung to it like a lifeline, the soft fabric bringing with it the warm and familiar scent of her mother.<p>

A rustling behind her alerted her to the presence of another person. Quickly turning Aithne was faced with a girl near her age. This must have been the Clare from last night. She had bright green eyes and was wearing a tunic in similar fashion to her own, with matching boots and arm bands. In her hands was some fruit. Sitting down next to Aithne, the girl Clare placed the fruit down, indicating that it was for her.

Aithne was hesitant, but she slowly reached out and took an apple and bit into it, watching Clare all the time. Not realizing now hungry she was, Aithne devoured the apple, core and all, leaving nothing behind. When she was finished she noticed Clare reaching out to her. Her hand slowly came to rest on her wolf like ears, as she began to stroke them. It ticked which caused them to twitch, Clare smiled at the sight before Aithne batted her hand away. Before she had time to move onto the next piece of fruit there was another rustling and movement of someone approaching.

"I see you were very hungry. You collapsed from dehydration more than hunger." It was Teresa's voice.

As Aithne turned to greet the new companion her heart stopped when her gaze fell upon Teresa. She was one of the Silver eyes, the same people that had killed her entire clan.

Leaping to her feet, Aithne attempted to run, to flee as fast as she could so she wound face the same end as her parents. But due to her weakness and fatigue she barely got a few steps before her legs gave out.

"Be more careful." Teresa scolded "You are too week, and you'll injure yourself further." She walked over to the girl and lent down to pick her up when something white flashed in front of her vision. Teresa had just enough time to react and jump backwards and avoid any serious injury.

Aithne brought her knees to her chest as a bone like tail with a sharp point designed to impale and slice, the end of which was attached to the girl herself who bared her sharp elongated canines at the Claymore.

"Are you going to kill me as you did my clan?!" The girl cried out, her ears flat along her head.

Teresa drew the sword for which she was named and pointed it at the girl "I don't know what you are, but I have only kept you alive at Clare's request."

"You Lie!" She shouted. "You people came to my home, and began to slaughter us one after another, calling us Yoma. My parents hid me in a tinder box, saving my life at the cost of their own." Tears were flowing down her face. "You're all the same. All EVIL!"

"STOP!" Clare screamed at Aithne. "Teresa's not evil. She's kind, she let me stay with her, when I had no one!" There were tears flowing like rivers down her cheeks now. "And she even killed people, just to save me…Even her own kind."

Aithne was shocked, a blond, silver eyed, attacking its own? From what she knew of them, it was unheard of. Before she could think any more on it Clare rushed forward and threw her arms around the girl still on the ground. She hadn't noticed that Teresa raised her sword, if Clare hadn't rushed forward, the blond warrior would have taken Aithne's head.

The Claymore was unable to attack the strange girl with Clare in the way. "I really am going soft." She muttered to herself sheathing her sword.

Clare had noticed the blade being raised but was afraid that Teresa would be in even more trouble, so she threw herself onto the other girl to save her from Teresa's blade.

"What are you?" The claymore asked knowing that she wasn't going to be able to kill the thing with Clare around.

"My name is Aithne. I'm a Hellhound." She told them both, the reaction causing the brown haired girl to release her grip and back away slightly.

"Why should I not kill you where you lay?" Teresa continued her questions.

Aithne glared at the blond woman "Silver eyes like you came to my village and began killing everyone. They called us Yoma. But we aren't. We don't eat humans, though we _could_ if absolutely necessary. But you all taste bad. Hellhounds eat mainly meat. My village was on a mountain, cut off from the rest of the world." Her eyes became clouded with memories of the past. "In the past, Hellhounds would offer protection to people, families and villages. But as time passed people became either too fearful or too dependent on us. So many of the clans left. You see, when a Hellhound offers protection it is a lifelong bond. The strongest aside from a mate.

"Anyway, You silver eyes thought we were Yoma and you came, cutting us down. It was horrible. The smell…" Aithne shivered at the memory. "Hellhounds have much better senses then humans. We can see perfectly in the dark and can memorise scents for tracking. But now…. I am the last, I don't know if there were any more clans like ours." Distraught, the girl brought her arms around her knees and wrapped her tail around herself too.

Clare, once more, came close to Aithne and brought her arms around her hugging the Hellhound close. "Please, don't be sad…"

"All right, enough excitement for today. You-" Teresa pointed at the Hellhound "-Finish your food. We are headed to the next town, you can leave then."

Doing as bid, Aithne quickly ate the food and put her red cloak back on, hiding her bone like tail underneath. She felt very uncomfortable with Teresa and almost left when her back was turned. And she would have too, if Clare hadn't grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

As they were traveling, the Claymore was constantly looking over her shoulder at the Hellhound and her young charge. She wanted to be sure that the strange girl didn't attack Clare when she wasn't looking. It was strange, Teresa was able to detect the smallest traces of Yoki from both Yoma and Claymore's, but this girl was really something else. She had no Yoki at all and was 'inviable' to Teresa. If she attacked, the claymore would have to use her natural reactions to fight back.

After a few hours of traveling Aithne stopped in her tracks her ears were twitching and turning, trying to catch the finite traces of sound in the air.

Teresa noticed the change in the Hellhound and brought a hand to her blade "What is it?"

"Don't you hear it?" Aithne questioned "Four horses, one carriage, they are at least ten kilometres to the west."

"You can hear all that?" The Claymore was sceptical. Not even she could hear that far.

The child nodded and tapped her ears for emphasis.

It was lucky that Aithne had given them advance warning, the horses had broken through the trees and they surrounded them. Atop the animals were four men, all dressed in leather armour, there were more in the cart that was pulled by two more horses. It was clear that they were bandits. The leader leapt off his horse and began to stride confidently toward them.

"Well, well. What have we here? A silver eye's witch, and two kids. Well at least two of them will fetch some money in the slave trade." He spoke in a bored droll, a sick grin on his face. "It has been too long since we had 'fun'. I wonder if the rumours about you Claymore's are true?" That earned him a few laughs from his men. "I already know that you are unable to kill humans. It's an iron clad rule."

One of the brigands walked behind Aithne and attempted to grab her shoulder. Before he made contact something lashed out and slashed him across his chest, he stumbled backwards and gripped a large wound on his chest, staining his shirt red.

"What the hell IS that!" The man shouted attempting to stem the flow of blood.

Aithne's tail was swaying side to side the tip was stained in red. "You smell bad. Like blood and sweat. It's like you are stained in others blood…" She was nearly in a trance, her voice was nearly dead as were her eyes. She was reliving the memory of her clans butchering. The smell of death that clung to the brigands kick started the memory.

"Whatever it is. I'm sure that someone will pay big money for a freak like that." The leader said drawing a blade.

The rest of the gang followed their leader's example and charged in not expecting them to fight back. Teresa, who was already on the Organization's kill list was easily willing to put some more name to the black book. She drew her claymore and with one easy, lazy flick of her wrist, felled one of the men, cutting him in half. Meer humans were nothing to a claymore.

On the other side, more bandits were reaching for Clare and Aithne. One put a hand on Clare and Teresa shouted the girl's name, with that Aithne snapped out of her daze. Flashbacks of her village on fire, her people being ruthlessly killed. And her not being able to stop it.

The hellhound growled and lunged for the bandit holding Clare and with her long canines bit into his throat. The force of her body sent them to the ground where she ripped out his throat, the hunk of flesh still in her mouth. Aithne spat it out onto the ground and looked the man in the eyes.

"You taste as foul as you smell…" She whispered letting her instincts take over. Hellhounds weren't always bloodthirsty but when they are young, they let their emotions and instincts take over more easily. Aithne was distraught over the memory of her clan being wiped out and her instincts were easier to deal with then the raw pain and sadness she was feeling.

Teresa had already killed most of the men, only a handful remained. One kicked Aithne off his comrade and she tumbled to the ground, but regained her balance with her tail, she was on all fours now braced for a jump at the nearest bandit. The one that kicked her charged sword heled high. As he brought the blade down, the girl leaped into the air and slashed with her bone like tail, impaling him with it. She unfortunately missed the vital parts she was aiming for which game the bandit a chance to swing his blade around, catching Aithne on the back.

The blade didn't slice flesh as he intended. Instead it collided with some kind of armour. The girl quickly countered and using her sharp nails cut open his throat.

Hearing a noise behind her, the Hellhound turned to see a final brigand swinging his blade at her. She though all was lost till a large blade intercepted his, the man turned only to have Teresa's claymore buried in his chest. Aithne couldn't help but show her surprise at the blond woman's help, before she could act upon the kindness she smelt the Claymore's scent. With her mind in its instinctive set she couldn't help but have a flashback of the Claymore that she saw killing her parents. Her face was burned into the Hellhounds memory, along with the sick smile and the Claymore's scent.

Not all Claymore's smell the same, but they all have some similarities.

Aithne heard horses hooves on the ground, a single bandit was riding hard away from the one sided fight. The Hellhound was driven near mad by the bloodlust and memory of the Claymore's taking away her entire clan. She crouched and readied herself for a full out sprint, the secret to a Hellhound was not their strength, it was their speed.

Aithne charged at the escaping bandit intending to rip him to pieces, as she ran she could just make out the sound of Clare shouting her name. She was easily faster than the horse and it didn't take long to catch up to it, so she leapt forward and tackled the man to the ground, whereupon she used her tail to pin his hand to the ground.

"I keep seeing her… Everywhere." Aithne whispered. "Leave me alone, Go Away! Give them back and go AWAY!" Screaming she tore into the man's neck with her teeth easily perforating his neck and tearing away the meat. Her plan was to end his life as viciously as she could, she didn't see the bandit, she only saw the Claymore that sliced her parents in half, unbeknownst that she could see everything from the box she was hiding in.

Back with Clare and Teresa, the Claymore was surprised at the speed on the child. It was easily as fast as her, so making a quick decision she turned to her young charge.

"Clare, hold onto me. We have to catch up to her." Teresa didn't like the thought of bringing Clare with her to the clearly mentally unstable Hellhound, but the idea of leaving her where she was unable to keep an eye on her was even worse. Clare walked over to a red pile on the forest floor, it was Aithne's cloak, she picked it up before heading to Teresa. So holding the child with one arm while she clung to her front Teresa of the Faint Smile sprinted as fast as she could after the Hellhound.

It didn't take long to catch up with her speed but the girl had covered a considerable distance in such a short time. She came upon the child tearing into the bandit with the ferocity of a wild animal. Hearing something behind something behind her, Aithne's instinct was to scent the air first to identify her surroundings. Smelling the Claymore she dropped her attack on the dead bandit and turned to Teresa.

"Murderer!" she shouted, lunging at the blond warrior "Give them back!"

The attack was too straight forward and clumsy, something that Teresa was easily able to both dodge and allowed her to catch the child in a grip that restricted her movements. She wasn't going to let her go until her mind was back to normal and if that was impossible… she was going to end her life.

Clare was unfazed by Aithne's screaming and flailing, she saw the same pain that was evident in both Teresa's eyes and her own. So gripping the cloak tighter she strode right up to her and held out the red cloak.

When the scent of her mother that still lingered on the fabric hit Aithne's nose she began to calm taking deep breaths. The sudden onslaught of emotions was too much and she began to cry. Teresa sensing that the girl was calmer let her go but refused to let her guard down. The Hellhound slowly reached out and brought her arms around Clare, burying her face in the cloak that was still in her grip.

"There all gone. There all gone…" She kept whispering over and over.

Aithne cried into Clare's shoulder for what felt like a long time, the other girl stroking her hair comforting her as if she were some kind of puppy, she even went as far as to scratch her behind her ears. The Hellhound committed the Clare's scent to memory taking deep breaths with her nose, finally when she was sure she had the girl's scent she turned her head and licked her cheek as a dog would to show affection. Clare was surprised at the action but made no comment.

* * *

><p>The group of Teresa, Clare and Aithne were standing in on the precipice of a cliff, the Hellhound was looking down at her shoes, she was going to leave the group.<p>

"Please." Clare whispered, holding onto Aithne's hand. She had grown close to the girl in the short few days that they had been together and was saddened to hear that she wanted to leave.

"I can't stay, Clare. Even though Teresa saved my life from the bandits I can't trust someone from the same organization that demanded the slaughter of my clan. And you saw how I became feral. I can't control my instincts, I am not safe." She told Clare, trying to pull her hand away. She laid her ears flat against her head at the other girl's expression. "I am sure we'll meet again. I have your scent memorised, if I come across it again ill find you." Smiling encouragement to Clare she finally managed to dislodge her hand.

Aithne turned but was stopped when Teresa put a hand on her shoulder. "Just remember kid, not all Claymore's are ruthless killers. And I hope you have a safe journey."

With a small semi forced smile to Teresa, the Hellhound put her hood over her ears and left the duo of Clare and Teresa. Wandering West.

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><p><em>There you have it. This was the first chapter of my new Claymore fic. Ill try and update whenever I have time but college is keeping me VERY busy.<em>

_Leave a review and tell me what you think._


	2. Chapter 2

_I want to first off thank my friend Daz for helping me with the writing and idea making of this story. Without him this story would remain in the vault of unfinished stories. _

_So to anyone reading this I thank you for your support and I hope that you will review and tell me how this story is going. It will join the cannon later on, most of this story is already planned out and we have an idea what each chapter will be and what will happen, though if people give good ideas we will be sure to incorporate them and credit the people who thought of them :)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

It had been two weeks since Aithne had left Teresa and Clare. She was still disappointed that she had to leave, but she couldn't feel anything but hate for the Claymore. Even if she tried to prove that she was not bloodthirsty and not all Claymores were evil. Somewhere inside the Hellhound, she knew that not all Claymores were the same, just like not all Hellhounds are the same. There were both good and bad.

During her musings, Aithne began to think on the night her clan were slaughtered. It started out as a normal night, she along with her father and mother were sitting outside listening to the sounds of the forest and watching the stars. Aithne's parents were getting her to point out and name the constellations, she was doing pretty well too until a watchman came bursting through the trees and began shouting that people were headed toward the village.

The chief came out of his stone cottage and met the man in the middle of the village. No matter how much the chief tried to calm him down, the watchman just continued to panic and shout. When he finally seemed to get out the entire story the entire village began to ready themselves for action.

They unfortunately never had the chance to fully prepare.

The Claymores suddenly charged through the underbrush and immediately began hacking and slashing at every man woman and child. Their leader seemed not to even draw her sword as she cut people down.

"We have our orders, leave none alive." She told them in a stoic voice.

Many replied with "Yes, Captain Irene." While others just leaped into battle with renewed vigour.

Aithne's mother took her in her arms and carried her over to their house, while her father joined the other warriors (which consisted of both men and women) who were trying to battle the silver eyes witches. The Claymore's were built for killing Yoma and while a Hellhound isn't naturally strong, they possess immense speed.

Within Aithne's village, there were certain 'coming of age' ceremonies. When a Hellhound reached the age of maturity they would cut off their tails. The bone from their tails was the only thing that they could regenerate, much like a lizards. A special smithing process would begin and the bone was reforged into a sword. The bone was the only thing, other than a Claymore's blade that was known to easily slice through a Yoma's flesh.

The Hellhounds protecting their village all had such blades. The smithing process having turned the blade an obsidian black, giving them an eerie shadow look in the night.

Aithne's mother had managed to place her in the large box they stored wood in, in order to hide her.

"Aithne, Stay." She told her child with a stern voice. "No matter what you see, no matter what you hear. Stay in this box. When it's all over we'll leave and travel the country together. Just like we always talked about in the stories, right? Maybe we'll even find a big castle and live there."

With those parting words Aithne's mother closed the lid and left to join the fray, her tail slashing at the Blond Claymores stupid enough to get in her way. Aithne had a good view of the battle from the box she was in, opening the lid a little allowed her to see the whole village.

Her parents were fighting one Claymore in particular, she was smiling and cackling insanely while her short blond hair that was wildly blowing in her face as she fought.

"Ho, what do we have here?" She questioned blocking an attack from Aithne's father. "Two of you at the same time? I'm so flattered!" Pushing the Hellhound back with her blade, she lashed out with her fist to punch Aithne's mother in the stomach. This didn't prevent her mother from quickly stabbing with her tail to catch the Silver eyed woman on the face, cutting her deeply diagonally across her forehead and the bridge of her nose.

The Woman became enraged and with astonishing force cut through her mother's tail and plunged her sword into her chest. The Claymore lifted the impaled Hellhound off her feet and threw her away from her in the direction of the box Aithne was hiding in. Seeing his partner being killed in front of him sent a terrible rage flooding through Aithne's father. He roared and bared his canines, before lifting his sword and charging at his opponent.

The Claymore easily saw through the move and brought her own blade to block, only to have Aithne's father move like the wind and get behind the blond warrior and brought the black blade down in an arc. While the Claymore was surprised at the speed at which the Hellhound moved she was still battle hardened and quickly reacted, jumping to the side in order to avoid most of the attack. Leaving no time for her to recuperate, Aithne's father lashed out with his tail, trying to impale her like she did his partner.

He was a little too slow and his opponent gripped his tail and using it, threw him to the ground. She stood over him blade raised ready to behead him, just as the massive sword for which the warrior was named began its decent something leaped onto her back restricting her movements. Aithne's mother was still alive and with her remaining strength reached around the Claymore's chest, linking her arms and preventing her sword from lowering any more than it already had.

The Silver eyed Witch flung Aithne's mother off her back and plunged her blade through her father's chest and for added measure, she brought the blade out and back down again and again.

"Chi… Damn resilient bastards. Won't die as easily as Yoma." She said, bringing the sword down a final time.

"Chelsea. You don't have to prolong their suffering." The leader of the group came over to her and went to Aithne's mother who was still alive and with a movement so quick that Aithne was sure that her sword never left her sheath, cut off her head.

"Damn Irene, you never let me have any fun." Chelsea complained sheathing her own blade on her back.

Aithne could still see the dead bodies of her parents. Still smell the blood and the burning of wood the village. The Claymore's had decided to leave no evidence of their attack and set the entire town ablaze. But the heat of a fire was no trouble for a Hellhound as the legends say they were born of fire, Aithne was completely unharmed by the blaze. By the time she gathered the courage and crawled out of the burnt box the whole village was black with soot and ash.

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><p>Aithne was thrown from her memories when she felt cold rain hit her nose. Looking up and over her hood she only now noticed the darkness of the clouds in the sky. From the smell of the air and the feel of the air pressure she knew a storm was coming and it was going to be a bad one and Aithne would need a shelter.<p>

By the time the storm hit the little Hellhound was following a little seldom used mountain trail that she hoped would lead her to a cave of some sort. Her red cloak was soaked and her ears and hair were wet from the rain seeping through the cloth so when she finally made it to a cave opening she had to shake her head from side to side to dry them, though it wasn't much of an improvement they were a little dryer. She turned and watched the storm winds shake the trees to their limit, the wood creaking and moaning with the strain, while the rain was so heavy she found it difficult to make out much outside the cave opening. There was a strange smell coming from deeper within the cave.

It was the smell of Yoma. And they were more than likely still there, judging from how strong it was.

Suddenly a flash graced the sky, laminating everything for a moment, this was followed by a crash of thunder.

The thunder caused the Hellhound to cover her sensitive ears. The noise was so loud to her that it felt like her eardrums were being beaten by drums, sending her cowering as she crouched down. This left her with little choice, she had to move deeper into the cave to avoid the defining noise. Aithne was not going to admit that the loudness scared her and sent her cowering.

Traveling further into the cave she nearly cringed at the smell and nearly had to cover her nose with her cloak. Along the cave wall was strange metal rods. Aithne brushed her hand against one and continued moving deeper into the cave.

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><p>Somewhere with the seemingly underground castle, two Yoma or 'Awakened One's' were lazing around what appeared to be a throne room. Riful of the West, one of the three Abyssal Ones was sitting on her stone throne, it had broken over the many years and would have been uncomfortable for any normal human, yet here she was, sitting comfortably her knees were up to her chest while her hands wrapped around them.<p>

She was going through many things in her mind, she had recently failed to make a Claymore Awaken, and she was thinking of ways to maximise the chance of success without killing the person in the process. She had never seen the need for an army, but there was rumours of the Organisation moving against the Abyssal Ones and of Isley gathering more Awakened and strong Yoma to his side. While Riful didn't see an attack in the future as she and Duff were more than enough to take out many awakened on their own. If Isley wanted a war, he would need something very special. It was more than likely that he wanted something to deal with the Organisations Claymore's so he could spend less time bothering to fight them and more time lazing about his territory.

But there was something strange about today. Riful felt something, at first she thought it was just the bad storm that was raging outside but she sensed something... different. A Claymore perhaps? If so one that could hide their Yoki extremely well.

"Duff." She called to her companion that was leaning against the side wall of the room, looking utterly bored before being called. "There seems to be someone here. Give them a proper welcome and bring them here. Alive." She made sure to add the last part as her companion was sometimes a little forceful and forgetful.

A little miffed that he wasn't allowed to kill the intruder, Duff stood and nodded his acknowledgment at Riful before walking out of the room.

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><p>Back with Aithne, the little Hellhound was much deeper in the cave and while the noise of the storm was not fully masked, it was muffled a lot. She would be able to find a corner somewhere and cover her ears until the storm passed.<p>

When her sensitive ears picked up something other than the noise of the banging and crashing of the storm she stopped her stride so she could pinpoint it, which was very difficult to do as the noise bounced off the cave walls.

Quickly moving away from the noise (or at least she hoped it was away.) Aithne found herself in some kind of large room with a high ceiling. It must have been used as an area connecting many different corridors as there were lots of archways along the walls.

Before Aithne had a chance to pick a doorway to move through she heard someone behind her. Turning, the little Hellhound came face to face with a very large muscular man with short blond hair. He seemed to have a scowl on his face.

"Hmph, not a Claymore, not even an adult human. Waste of time." Duff said as he shoved the girl further into the large room. "Too bad you aren't an adult woman, children and men are no fun to play with."

As she fell to the ground, Aithne's hood fell from her head, reviling her ears.

Duff stopped in his movements "What the hell are you?" Regaining is composure he began reaching out only to have his hand sliced open by something. Aithne had flicked out her tail and lashed out at Duff cutting his had deep, though it really didn't matter to him, even with his regeneration she would have to cut a lot deeper to seriously wound him.

All the 'scratch' had managed to do was anger him. Duff released his Yoma energy and transformed into his awakened form, he was much bigger in this form, nearly as tall as the ceiling and he seemed to be covered in a tough outer shell.

Aithne charged at him recklessly and leaped high into the air, when she was level with his head she spun lashing out with her tail again, hoping to do some lasting damage this time. Unfortunately the tough shell was too much for her tail and she was unable to pierce it. Landing on the ground, Duff took this chance.

Opening his mouth wide he said "Little freak, I don't like you moving do much." Completely forgetting what Riful had said, he then shot out a metal rod from his mouth.

It was too slow, Aithne was easily able to dodge it with a series of backflips. Going for her only other option, the Hellhound quickly sprinted away from the giant Awakened to an opening for another corridor, she knew his huge form wouldn't be able to fit.

"No running away!" Duff shouted firing another rod from his arm this time aiming for the doorway. The rod completely destroyed the wall and rocks fell blocking the exit.

Aithne slid to a halt, slightly shocked at the power of the Awakened. She turned for another doorway, but seeing this, Duff shot a rod at her back. The Hellhound took a direct hit on her back, between her shoulder blades. The knock would have crushed a normal human's bones, but a Hellhound had reinforced and much denser bones.

The knock sent Aithne roiling to the hard ground. As she struggled to her feet, Duff laughed at her and picked her up by the scruff of her red cloak. The Hellhound tucked her legs under her like a dog being picked up by their parent and tried to reach the Awakened's hand. Knowing that she would never get him to let go, Aithne unclasped her cloak and fell to the ground.

"How can you still stand? I should have broken your bones…" Duff questioned before firing another round at the girl.

Not reacting fast enough, Aithne was bombarded with metal rods. Her clothes were ripped reviling her back and spine. The bone appeared to be outside of her body, clearly visible. It continued down her back to the bone tail, and up to the base of her hairline. Some of the connecting ribs on her back were also visible before they seemed to 'sink' back under her skin.

Aithne was getting angry and frustrated at the Awakened. She was losing herself to her instincts. Only this time, her body was going through small physical changes. Her hair around her neck began to stand on end and her nails grew forming claws. Duff clenched a fist and threw a punch, the Hellhound easily dodged with a burst of speed and attacked again this time looking for some weak spot near his face or neck. No matter how much she slashed at him, the tough skin remained unpierced.

Before she could land, Duff brought his hands together and trapped her inside before holding her in one fist. She struggled and struggled but couldn't break free of the Awakened's grip.

"Hahaha, Can't get away now." Duff laughed, not noticing how hot the girl in his hand felt.

Aithne felt more rage at being helpless and trapped. She felt her body getting warmer, like she was on fire. Managing to free one arm she dug her claws into his hand. The area her hand was toughing began to melt from the heat emanating from her palm. Duff yelled in pain and threw the girl to the ground swearing.

Regaining her balance, Aithne spun in the air and landed on the ground on all fours, digging her claws into the ground to stop herself. She realised why she felt herself getting warmer, it wasn't that she felt like she was on fire, she was setting pieces of her soul on fire. It was rare even in the Hellhound community, some warriors were able to melt anything by setting their souls on fire and directing the heat to parts of their body. It was a dangerous thing to do, as one could set too much on fire and end up killing themselves. The damage done to the soul was able to be healed with a little time as it regenerated itself.

As it was Aithne was on all fours glaring at Duff, having completely given in to her instincts.

"Give it back…" She whispered meaning her cloak, which was still in his hand. "Give it BACK!" Her tail was above her head swaying dangerously with a strange orange-white glow, as was her entire body as it emanated a tremendous amount of heat. Her spine seemed to grow outwards showing the white bone of her ribs more and two white pieces extended out to her neck and ending just at her cheeks.

Either not realising or not caring, Duff lashed out opened palmed at the girl, she slashed her tail across his fingers and sliced them off with ease, the heat easily melting the tough hide. The awakened screamed in pain and with his good hand, threw a punch with all his might. The blow would have easily killed the child had it not been stopped by what appeared like green ribbons.

"Duff, I said I wanted them alive and unhurt. Remember?" Riful of the west told her companion. Her arm was transformed and some of the ribbons were wrapped around his arm the others were holding the Hellhound.

"But, Riful. She-" Duff was cut off by Riful.

"But nothing. How can I take pride in my man if he can't even follow simple instructions? He really is stupid isn't he?" She said directing the last part at the girl.

The Hellhound didn't answer the answer the question, she only yelled "Give it back!" and cut the ribbons with the tip of her tail causing Riful to flinch.

Quickly reacting Riful threw more ribbons out and bound her arms, legs and tail up holding them out separately, completely restricting her movements so she would be unable to slash at Riful again.

Moving closer to the Hellhound the awakened asked. "What is it you want back?"

"My cloak! Give it back!" Aithne screamed flailing trying to escape the ribbons with little success.

"Hmm." Riful turned to Duff "Give me the cloak." She commanded, he readily complied.

Taking the red cloth in her hand Riful of the West held it in front of Aithne. "I'll give it back when you calm down. And not before."

This only served to send Aithne into an even bigger fit of rage. But the Awakened knew that this was just a child's tantrum and waited for it to end. When it finally did end after a few minutes of futile struggling, the Hellhound took deep calming breaths and her body seemed to go completely limp in the ribbons. Her body also returned to its original state, the bones retracing from her face through the bone on her spine was still outside her. Riful let the child go and held out the item she so desired, Aithne took it gratefully but with a black expression as she hugged it to her face breathing in its scent. She had completely blanked out when she let her instincts take over and was only now realising what she had done. She was completely worn out both from the beating she received from Duff and the release of her soul fire.

"You're a Hellhound, aren't you?" Riful asked as she knelt next to the child.

The girl was nearly too tired to answer, settling for a nod of her head instead while she breathed in the comforting scent of her mother.

"I had heard of your kind but never seen one. I thought you were all gone." She continued.

Aithne turned to the Abyssal One "I am the last now. Claymores killed them all. I'm all alone." She whispered.

"Is that what brought you here?" Riful questioned. As if on cue the storm reminded them of its presence with a massive crack of thunder. Aithne whimpered and fell to the ground drawing her knees to her chest and flattening her ears with her hands to drown out the noise.

The Abyssal of the West giggled at the antics of the child. She wrapped her arms around the Hellhound and drew her close in a comforting embrace. Aithne gladly returned into the gesture tears leaking out her eyes as Riful scratched her ears and stroked her hair.

"If you have nowhere else to go. You can stay with Duff and me. You'll be safe here, the Claymore's won't be able to get you." She told the child in her arms.

Aithne nodded her conformation burying her head underneath Riful's chin.


	3. Chapter 3

_Well here is the third chapter. I hope that to anyone reading this that you review and let me know what you think of it. A huge thanks to my friend Daz for his epic contribution and idea's. Without him this chapter would still be 100 words or so, so Thanks Daz :) _

_I also want to thank the only reviewer of the last chapter __**GoldeneRose. **__Thanks for the support._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Aithne had been staying with Riful in the underground castle for the past week. She was still shy around the Abyssal One, even more so near Duff, the little Hellhound didn't like him at all. But no matter how much Riful tried, she was unable to break the girl from the shell she had created around herself. There were moments where the child let down her defences opened up, but it seemed to Riful, that she was afraid of opening her heart to someone again…. As if afraid that the moment she did they would be taken away from her.

Riful still remembered the first night she was with Aithne. She had pulled away from the Abyssal of the West's embrace, her tears had stopped and were now dried on her cheeks and the Hellhound's ears were flat against her head.

"Are you going to eat me? Is that why you want me here?" Aithne questioned looking directly into the other girls eyes.

"No, of course not. You are too special." She told the little Hellhound honestly. "Why would you think that?"

Aithne looked away in shame "Because you smell different to normal Yoma. I thought you were only keeping me alive to kill me later…" She trailed off saying it out loud only made it sound like a stupid superstition.

Riful had to laugh slightly at the girl's reply, she was sharp for someone so young. Reaching forward she scratched the top of Aithne's head, right between her ears, she leaned into the touch, craving more. "I would never hurt you. As I said, you are too special."

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><p>Since that moment, the girl was sure that the Hellhound wanted to open her heart to someone but was afraid to. Riful was currently searching the castle looking for the girl, since she couldn't find her using Yoki tracking, she had to do it the old fashioned way, with her eyes and ears. Though her senses were much greater than an average humans they still couldn't hold a candle to the Hellhounds uncanny senses. She eventually made her way to the open area of the castle. It was one of the few places within the castle that actually opened out into the outside, most of the castle was buried underground, Riful didn't know why, she actually preferred it this way as she could hide more easily within the confines of the underground.<p>

She stepped out into the sun and onto the open terrace, it overlooked the courtyard and since its abandonment many years ago, and had become overgrown with tall grass and trees. Riful found Aithne sitting on the ledge, one knee pulled up to her head, her arms resting on top of it, the other leg was hanging over the edge, while her tail was swishing lazily on the grass. The girl seemed to either not notice or react to the Abyssal's presence, she had her eyes closed enjoying the sunlight and warm breeze, her eyes twitching randomly as they were tickled by the wind.

The Abyssal One sat down on the ledge next to the girl. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to. It is nice out today." She spoke, getting little more than a nod from the girl sitting beside her. "What was it like, in your village?" She asked hoping that a change to her tactics would allow her to learn more about the Hellhounds and with any luck, get the girl to open up.

It seemed to word as she opened her eyes and looked out to the forest sounding the mountain "It was in the mountains, surrounded by thick forest much like here really. We were happy… I would even be allowed on the hunting parties sometimes. Deer spook easy when they catch out scent, but they are fun to chase. We're too fast for them to even try to outrun us." Aithne told Riful, a ghost of a smile appearing on her face when she remembered the fun she had with her mother and father, hiding in the bushes waiting for the fight moment to jump the animal.

"What were these hunts like?" The Awakened prodded some more.

"We normally went in groups of three or four-" Aithne began telling her "-Most of the time when we went out, we would normally take a less experienced member so that they could learn more skills and they would take point. Once I was the leader, I followed the trail well, or so the hunting master said, but I was too small to take the deer down. It was my parents…" The talk of the hunt had brought up memories of her parents and Village and the pain of losing them was too fresh.

Aithne shook her head to clear it, her ears making snapping noises against her skull before she quickly stood on the ledge. "I don't want to talk about this. I can't…" She growled before leaping off the edge, landing perfectly on all fours and dashing off into the forest. She was so quick that Riful had trouble following her movements and she sighed, the child was just too closed off, the Abyssal of the West would let ward be for the time being and follow her into the forest later. Right now she felt the child just needed time to think.

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><p>Aithne slowed down her sprint to a brisk walk, she had covered a large distance in such a short time. She couldn't see, hear or smell the underground castle anymore but the run had made her very thirsty, so she sniffed at the in search of fresh water. Picking up on the smell of water and the sound of running water, the Hellhound walked toward it. It wasn't long before she found a river and cupped her hands together, drinking a small amount, testing it. Finding it clean she began to drink what must have been her weight in water.<p>

Her thirst satisfied, Aithne lifted her head, her ears and nose were alert for anything that could sneak up on her and had picked up on something small rustling in the grass. The Hellhound lowered herself to the ground to hide herself as she tilted her ears left and right, trying to pin point where the noise was coming from, while she also sniffed the air hoping to figure out what it was. The wind blew the scent in her direction, and she picked up the scent of Rabbit.

'_Ah, time for lunch'_ Aithne thought, a grin gracing her face. She raised herself on all fours and listened for the rabbit to stop its movement's for a drink of water.

Taking her chance, Aithne leaped in the air and intentionally scared the little rabbit into bolting. She smiled and leaped again this time catching it in her hands, the rabbit was deaerate to live squirmed out of her grip in a fury of teeth and claws and made for its burrow. She kept running in front of it making it change direction while she played with the little animal. Taking one final leap Aithne landed on its back and sunk her teeth into the rabbit's neck, the little animal struggled in her grip, but she clenched her jaw tighter as her mouth filled with the metallic tasting blood as it quickly died. Deciding to put it out of its misery, she snapped its neck, it went limp almost instantly. But another sound from behind her made her lift her head (rabbit still in her mouth) and turn to face it, she was very surprised to see a huge Yoma looking at her with its yellow eyes. It was bear like in appearance, with broad shouldered and slouching under long arms and claw like hands, its sharp pointed teeth were revealed in a sick smile.

"What have we here? You smell strange, I wonder how you will taste?" It spoke, in a deep gravelly voice.

Aithne opened her mouth and dropped the rabbit in surprise then turned to run away only to have the Bear- Yoma's claw battered her to the ground, trapping her under it before she had even a chance to use her speed. She struggled in its grip but was unable to break free as it lifted her into the air, trapped within its fist. Becoming desperate she decided to bite into the Yoma's hand. Its blood was vile and nearly gagged, but it had the desired effect, the Bear –Yoma screamed in anger and released her, but it did it by throwing Aithne into the ground.

Her Hellhound bone structure preformed as designed and absorbed most of the impact, leaving her mostly intact and unharmed save for a few scratches and bruises. Taking the opportunity of being freed from the thing's grip, Aithne tried once again to flee the scene and escape the Yoma. But it was very unhappy now that Aithne had taken a bite out of it and back handed the girl into a tree.

And though her bones were much denser than a human's, the damage from the previous impact and the new one from the force of hitting the tree hurt a lot and did a lot more damage. Aithne began coughing up blood when she finally stopped rolling across the ground and she couldn't breathe right, she was sure some of her ribs were broken.

Fearing death, the Hellhound tried to crawl away. Flashbacks of the Claymore's and her village were flashing before her eyes… She didn't want to die, she was scared. High on adrenalin and quickly scrambling to her feet she ran as fast as she could using all of her Hellhound speed but because of her damaged and bruised insides coupled with her broken rib's she was unable to attain her highest speed. She dodged trees as best she could and braced a hand on her side to keep her broken bones from being jarred too much by the running. The Bear- Yoma had no such difficulty with the foliage and uprooted whole trees with ease and splintered logs with a flick of a wrist as it chased after the girl on all fours, keeping up with her pace.

Aithne pushed herself even faster, the pain from her ribs screaming in protest. She would have pulled away from her pursuer if she hadn't run out of the forest and into an open area surrounded by a rocky cliff wall, her feet skidded as she tried to quickly stop herself.

She had nowhere to run as the Yoma easily knocked her to the ground and stood on her back preventing her from moving and restricting her breathing. "Where did you think you're going?" It questioned applying more pressure on her back causing her to scream in pain.

Desperate, Aithne slashed at its leg with her tail, but the Bear- Yoma applied even more pressure to the point where the little Hellhound was sire more bones were going to break and causing her to falter in her attack.

Just as the light was beginning to fade and the darkness began to creep into Aithne's vision, the pressure on her back faded and left altogether. Taking in lungful's of much needed air the girl turned her head to see why the Yoma's foot left her back.

She didn't expect to see Riful standing a few meters away still within the treeline, her arm was partly awakened allowing her ribbons to pierce the Bear- Yoma, forcing him off Aithne.

"The girl is mine. And I don't appreciate anyone harming what is mine." Riful told him a scowl on her face, it looked completely out of place on her childlike face. "You don't even know whose territory you stumbled upon, do you?" She asked seeing the look of confusion on the lesser being's face.

The Bear-Yoma slashed at the ribbons but Riful retracted them before he could try and cut them. "I barely feel any Yoki off you. Why should I take orders from you?" He asked, a smile on his face.

The Abyssal of the West refused to answer such a stupid question, she extended out her ribbons again and with surprising gentleness, wrapped them around carefully around Aithne's bruised and battered form and carried her away from the Yoma, back to the Abyssal and laid her against a tree, being careful not to jar the girl anymore and cause her more pain.

"You did well against someone of this power. Most Claymores number 20 or higher would have died against such an opponent." She praised the Hellhound with a smile on her face. The child was still mainly high on adrenalin, breathing with rapidly and shallow breaths, thought the relief was clear in her eyes.

"No, that thing is MINE! And I'm going to eat her!" The Bear- Yoma shouted and attempted to charge at the Abyssal, still ignorant of who she really was.

Riful's scowl returned, this time more anger following it as she extended her ribbons again, this time tightening them around his neck. "You still don't get it do you?" She questioned, still scowling at the lesser Awakened, very annoyed at the disrespect he was showing to her.

"Fine, then let me show you." Riful finally shed her human cloak and fully turned into her Awakened form.

Much grander than her small childlike frame would have you believe, Riful's Awakened form was completely constructed of green ribbons making a female humanoid shape. Her lower body however was an immense mass of such strips that, to Aithne, vaguely resembled a ball gown. The strips themselves were incredibly resilient and capable of lashing out at high speeds to ensnare or impale her opponents. The humanoid portion of Riful's form was a deception, as her enemies would tend to attack that area in the assumption that her vital organs were located there. In actuality, that portion contained no vital areas whatsoever. She faced her red eye's gaze toward the now terrified Yoma.

"Please. I- I didn't know that this was yo -your territory…" He stammered backing away slowly holding his hands up in a show of surrender, only now able to fully sense her Yoki since she was no longer hiding it. "Just let me leave in one piece!"

"I don't like weak men." Riful muttered, her ribbons lashing out and impaling the Yoma through his chest and lifting him up to her height "I don't like people who insult me even more." She told him before extending her ribbons outwards, ripping him to pieces.

Her job finished, Riful reverted from her Awakened form to her human one and turned to Duff who had been waiting at the edge of the forest out of view with a spare dress as her old one was now ripped and ruined from her transformation. After all, dresses didn't materialise from thin air. The new dress on, she turned her attention to the frightened Hellhound who was shaking with fear, her eyes wide. The Abyssal slowly walked over to her and crouched down next to the girl.

Aithne, severely traumatised by the near death experience, quickly brought her arms around the Abyssal and held her close as she cried. Riful was surprised by this, she was sure that after seeing her in her Awakened form alone would have terrified her, but seeing her Awaken _and_ dismember and kill the Yoma in front of her eyes… She was sure that she would be terrified of her. Yet she was, proven wrong, and happily so as she scratched the girls ears in a comforting gesture.

"Shush, it's alright. I'm not going anywhere. You're safe now." She whispered to the girl as she struggled to get her breathing under control and stop the flow of tears. Her grip tightened around Riful as she was afraid that the moment she let her go, something horrible was going to take her away, like everything else in her life.

"I- I was scared… I th- thought I was going to die." She stuttered, her ribs paining her to the point where she was nearly blacking out from it. "Please, don't leave me…" The little Hellhound whispered in a moment of childish weakness.

Riful was not upset at the show of childishness, instead she found it endearing. "Of course. I won't ever leave." She promised, the girl nuzzling her neck and wrapping her bone tail around them both, as if trying to keep her close by. "Let's get back to the castle."

The Abyssal of the West picked the girl up with ease and gently carried her back to the underground castle they called home. When she found a suitable room she gently put the now sleeping Hellhound down on a pile of furs and blankets, making a mental note to have Duff get a proper bed for her later as she couldn't have her sleep on the floor all the time. When she was satisfied that the child would not awaken and would sleep through the night, Riful left the room to find Duff.

It didn't take long to pinpoint the other Awakened's Yoki as he wasn't particularly skilled at hiding it. As soon as she entered the throne room where he was currently sulking, it was clear that he was not pleased.

"Why'd you save that girl and not the Yoma? Thought you wanted more strong people on your side?" He huffed, arm's folded over his chest.

She had to laugh at his antics he was clearly jealous of the attention that the Hellhound was getting. "Because Duff, this girl has the potential to become incredibly strong. You know of the legends, imagine a loyal Hellhound on our side, someone with uncanny senses and undetectable to both other Yoma and the Organisation and their Claymore's. Plus her 'Soul Fire' makes her a formidable opponent." The Abyssal tried to explain to her companion. "She is much more valuable than some random Yoma that wanders into my territory and disrespects me."

Duff knew better than to question Riful but still huffed at the idea that the kid was staying permanently. Knowing exactly what was on his mind she took his hand and led him through depths of the maze like tunnels, into one room in particular.

"I haven't forgotten about you Duff. You're my man remember?" Riful told him a smile on her face as she led him further into the cavernous room, capable of sheltering both of them in their Awakened forms.

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><p><em>Well third chapter over and there is still more to come and hopefully soon. Leave a review if you please.<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, so sorry for the wait. Here is the next chapter of the Hellhound, I want to thank my friend Daz, who without his help, this story would literally not be done… Really, I had to ask him for help every 10 minutes or so._

_I really want to thank the one reviewer: _GoldeneRose _and I hope there will be others reading this and will review. _

**Chapter 4 **

Aithne was lazing about on the roof overlooking the open the open courtyard, the sun was high in the sky beating down on her. The little Hellhound loved the heat that the sun provided, it was so pure and warm. She had been with Riful for little over a month now, and she was actually happy. Aithne thought such happiness was lost to her forever, she sometimes wondered what became of Clare and Teresa, and she hoped that they were doing well.

As she was thinking, something rustled in the grass. Aithne jumped to her feet and scanned the grass below, the courtyard had become overrun with rabbits and a few hares, the young Hellhound found she could have a lot of fun chasing them. She pinpointed the fluffy rabbit with her ears and zeroed in on it with her eyes, and jumping down she made sure to crouch low so it wouldn't see her.

Aithne carefully walked forward still crouching as low as she could, each step was measured and placed with the utmost care so it wouldn't make much noise and scare away her lunch. When she was in position, the girl flattened her ears against her head and leaped into the air, using her tail as a balance to correct any mistakes in her trajectory so she flew directly to the little rabbit. Aithne easily caught it in her hands and she held it by the scruff so it couldn't escape.

Something snuck up behind the distracted girl. Riful of the west may have been hundreds of years old, but she was still a child when she was turned and enjoyed the moments when she could act her age. So she carefully walked up behind Aithne and shouted 'Boo', making the child jump and turn to her attacker…letting go of her prize also.

When she saw it was only Riful, the Hellhound had to calm her heart and when she not happy at all.

"Riful…" She whined, pouting at the loss of her dinner. Her ears fall flat on her head and her tail dropped in sadness.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist." She told her companion a smile on her face. "And I'm sure you can catch another one with ease."

Riful took the girls hand and led her back to the balcony where they sat together, where Aithne was still pouting. To rectify this, the Abyssal One reached up and scratched the Hellhounds ears, they surprisingly soft and fluffy and twitched when she scratched them.

"Stop it. That tickles." Aithne laughed while batting away Riful's hand but it was ultimately a futile effort as she continued to scratch them.

"At least you are not angry anymore." She retorted.

Aithne buried her head in the crook of the Abyssal's neck like a puppy would, and her ears continued to be scratched, this time with slightly different results. When Riful's hand moved to an area just behind her left ear, the Hellhounds leg make a jerking movement, her eyes widened as she hoped Riful hadn't noticed the movement. The Awakened _had_ noticed unfortunately, and grinned with an idea.

Riful scratched behind her ear again and the Hellhounds leg moved again, so she scratched faster and the results were that Aithne's leg moved faster and she began to lean into the hand trying to move it to where she wanted it.

It took a few minutes before the child came back to her senses and stood up shaking her head, causing her ears to make a 'flapping' noise as they hit her head before shouting, "Don't do that! It feels weird!" she began to pout again.

But Riful was smiling and laughing, she had no idea that a Hellhound could react so much like a normal wolf, Aithne stared at Riful for a second then turned to the side and crossed her arms in a huff. The Abyssal of the west couldn't remember the last the last time she had so much fun, where she was so carefree. And it was all because of Aithne. The child brought so much childlike fun into her world.

"Sorry, but I didn't expect you to react that way. Let play a game to make up for it." She said, standing and looking the other girl in the eye. "It'll be fun, I promise."

The little Hellhound was dubious, she was sure that Riful just wanted to see if she could make her twitch again "What kind of game?"

"Just Tag." Was the simple reply, but there _was _a hidden agenda behind the game. The Awakened wanted to train Aithne, but she was sure that the Hellhound was too young to proper training like what she had received when she joined the Organization, so she came up with these games so that she could test the child without pushing her too far, it also allowed Riful to find just how strong the child was.

"All you have to do is avoid my ribbons, if I catch you, the game is over."

Aithne readily nodded. This did seem like fun.

Riful gave not time before she started to act, one of her slender arms unfurling into ribbons which lashed out towards Aithne from multiple directions. As sudden as the attack was, Aithne was quicker and back flipped into the air. Landing on the balls of her feet she took off into the caves. The Abyssal was impressed, she had moved her ribbons as fast as she could and she thought that Aithne was going to be caught. As Riful learned throughout their little "play" sessions it was never wise to underestimate a Hellhounds Speed.

Riful had to quickly sprint into the castle caves to follow Aithne, she wondered why the child would run into a confined space but knew there must be some reason. The Abyssal couldn't deny that she was having trouble keeping up with the Hellhound Pup, this had never happened before. And it didn't help that she couldn't track the girl with Yoki, as the Hellhound's didn't have any, but that wasn't a problem for Aithne who could use her senses to keep track of the Abyssal. Knowing Riful's distinctive scent was definitely a bonus for her.

As she was running, the girl ran into a large room where Duff was sitting doing nothing as per usual, when the young Hellhound charged at him. As he rushed to his feet thinking that the child was going to attack him, when she leapt onto his head and vaulted off it before Riful could follow her into the room. As he scratched his head wondering what was happening, Riful came into the room and, seeing a glimpse of Aithne on Duff's head, sent ribbons flying at him. Duff had enough time so yell 'What the Fu-!' before they hit him full force, sending him flying backwards into the wall.

Riful ran past quickly saying "Sorry Duff, we're playing 'tag' and now you're it." Before she continued her chase of the Hellhound.

Naturally the large Awakened got angry and threw one of his metal rods at the area where Aithne was standing laughing at him, and was well gone before he could hit her. He decided to follow them both, he really wanted to hit that little annoying little Hellhound, revenge was in order for stealing away most of Riful's time and attention.

Aithne and Riful were now running together hand in hand as they traversed the labyrinth of tunnels connecting various parts of the castle, the Hellhound was pulling the slower Abyssal along.

"He won't be happy with you." The girl said, her ears up and waiting for any sound of the approaching Duff.

The duo entered a large open cavern with large stone pillars acting as supports all around, the water droplets were falling onto puddles on the ground while the walls were tinted a blue/green and it smelt strange to Aithne.

The much larger Awakened eventually did manage to catch up (the two weren't trying to run and hide very hard) and he charged the two hoping to catch one of them. Aithne leapt over his head while her tail went splaying out wide and it ended up smacking Duff in the face. He brought his hands to his nose and growled in anger at the pain, as he turned he felt something catch his leg. The damn 'Dog' had wrapped her tail around his leg and it was pulled out from under him.

The simple game of tag had been long forgotten at this point and even though Riful wasn't participating much anymore, she was thoroughly enjoying watching Aithne use her speed to out maneuver Duff. The man rose to his feet while his body rippled and enlarged, his skin hardening into plates. Duph now stood in his awakened form and let loose a deep throaty growl to voice his displeasure of being toyed with ready to beat the child into the ground. He started shooting off hit metal rods in every direction. This was a true test of Aithne's speed, she could see the metal rods coming toward her and she had to make many mid-air twists to avoid getting hit.

Duff launched a punch at her as soon as the rods were fired, the Hellhound had to dive out of the way while the pillar behind her was smashed to pieces. Seeing that the current situation was very dangerous the Hellhound went to jump to the other end of the cavern but had to change it to a backwards jump when she noticed a massive fist coming toward her.

"Got you now!" Duff said while he opened his mouth and shot another metal rod at the child. This one was so large that Aithne had no room to dodge, it hit her right on the chest and send her into the back wall.

Even though the Hellhound had reinforced bones the impact was powerful enough to nearly crack them and made the child cough blood as the pressure was transferred to some of her internal organs, she passed out from the pain.

"Ha, You're It!" Duff shouted proud of himself, but it was short lived as Riful promptly hit him over the head, hard with her ribbons.

"Duff! What are you doing!?" Riful reprimanded as she walked over to the unconscious girl. It was astounding how much impact she had endured only to have been knocked unconscious, a single digit claymore would have died.

It took a few minutes but Aithne woke up moaning in pain. Riful carefully helped her to her feet and half carried her out of the room, the young Pup was very dazed and easily led. When it was clear that the girl would be unable to walk the Abyssal gathered her in her arms and carried the girl out. Duff was looking at his feet much like a kicked puppy and refused to look Riful in the eye as she walked past him.

The Abyssal of the west carried the child to her personal chambers, she recently acquired a bed for the girl since she wanted Aithne to be happy and comfortable in her new home. She lays the girl down on the soft mattress but no matter how gentle Riful was, the girl winced in pain. The Awakened ran her hand through the younger girl's hair and ears making them twitch involuntarily.

When she finally coaxed the Hellhound into a peaceful sleep, Duff appeared in the doorway.

"Riful… I want to say… S-Sorry. I-" But Riful cut him off before he could say any more.

"It seems-" She spoke, her head shooting up as she sensed something in the distance, standing she turned to Duff "-that we have some visitors. Some Claymores want to intrude on my home." A dark look came over Riful's eyes as she feels the power of the Claymore's. There was at least one single digit with them, or one powerful enough to be one.

The Abyssal quietly padded out of the room so she wouldn't wake her charge and went to 'greet' her guests with Duff following behind loyally.

(BREAK)

The three Claymore's entered the cave to the 'Witches Maw' and walked right into Riful's trap. She waited for them to follow Duff's Yoki to the large anti chamber where she sat on her stone throne, her legs curled underneath her.

"Something isn't right." One of the younger more inexperienced Claymores spoke. It was clear in her voice that she had only hunted one or two Awakened.

"Shut it. If I have to cut your head off myself to quieten you down then I will." The leader snapped as they entered the large room. "What the-?"

Riful had hidden her Yoki, or more accurately, she had different 'levels' to her energy. She hid her true Yoma energy as it tended to overwhelm most Claymores the moment she unleashed it.

"Duff, put them to the test… Don't hold back. We don't need any weaklings if I have to go against Isley." She said as her companion cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

He immediately shifted to his Awakened form his body growing and shifting larger and larger, he was able to stand in the chamber, but only just. He launched a fist at the trio which caused them to disperse, lest they be crushed by his fist. While they were in the air, he launched a rod at one and she brought up her sword in defence. The release of her Yoki to the extent that her eyes changed helped her stop the large metal rod from crushing her. She somehow managed to move the rod away and jumped to the ground with her comrades.

The leader gave a look to her subordinates and they instantly knew the plan and moved to take their positions on either side of the Awakened's flanks. They charged in and began to hack at Duffs calves looking for some weakness, but the metal plates that covered his body were too strong, this annoyed the Awakened a lot and he shifted his attention to his feet.

"Huh, you'll have to be much stronger than that if you want to cut me." He spoke in a slightly bored tone, but the superiority was clear.

This was what the leader was waiting for while Duff was preoccupied, the leader of the group jumped to the back of his head and went to hack at the back of his unprotected head.

Riful noticed what was happening and called out to Duff "Be careful you oaf! This is just a distraction while the leader looks for a weakness she can exploit. Honestly, how can I call you my man if you can me fooled by three little claymores?"

His attention was immediately caught by Riful and realizing what she was saying was true, he launched his mouth cannon at the leader before she could hit him. She had to immediately switch to a defensive stance and activate her Yoki to a very high level to prevent herself from dying. He then smashed his palm into the ground, crushing one of the claymores.

Duff caught the last woman in his hand and proceeded to crush her in it. He could feel her feeble bones breaking under his fingers.

"You… Monsters…" The leader whispered her bones were definitely broken and she was unable to move.

"Don't worry about them." Riful says in a sing song voice. "We want you alive."

This caused a shiver to run through the leader. She used the most Yoki she could and with its power boost, she attempted to rush out of the caves. It was foolish of the Organisation to send three Claymores, even if she was a number 12 and the others who were 21 and 19 respectively.

Riful unleashed her Awakened form and sealed the exit with her ribbons. "Remember Duff. I want her alive."

The make Awakened chuckled in glee as he cracked his knuckles.

(BREAK)

Aithne woke alone in her soft bed. The scent of Riful still clung to the sheet's where she was hours ago. The Hellhound had recovered but her limbs and muscles were still in pain, and they screamed in protest when she moved. But she managed to stand and followed the lingering scent out of the room with the intension of finding Riful. Following it was child's play for any Hellhound, and it brought her to the throne room. She was unprepared for the sight.

Riful was not in the room, neither was Duff for that matter. But there was a blond woman with silver eyes chained from the ceiling, hanging a few feet above the ground. For some reason, she felt like she knew this woman, but her mind was still a little dizzy from the pain and the impact of Duff's earlier hit.

"No… That's not possible. We killed all of your Filthy kind. How did you survive?" The woman whispered her voice cracking with both fright and surprise.

Something within Aithne clicked, and she recognised the woman chained to the ceiling. She was there that night. She participated in the murder of her village. The Hellhound saw red, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She would make this woman suffer… Just like she herself felt when her entire culture was wiped from existence.


	5. Chapter 5

_Here it is, the next chapter. I'll keep this short and sweet, thanks to my friend Daz for all his help and I hope you all enjoy._

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Riful and Duff were in another room debating what to do with the Claymore. Riful wanted information on what the organization was planning but she didn't want to kill the woman just yet. As the Abyssal thought, the duo heard a loud scream…. One of pain and anguish.

With a quick glance to each other, the awakened beings knew that they had to get back to the room with the claymore, so they sprinted out of the room they were in.

The closer they got to the room, the louder the screams became. When they finally opened the door they were shocked at the scene before them. Aithne, the small little timid child was standing before the chained Claymore, her tail blade was making many incisions on the woman's flesh. She had unknowingly unleashed her Spirit Blaze, the act of setting pieces of her soul on fire, and the lacerations were being instantly cauterised by the heat. The poor Claymore was unable to bleed out.

The hellhound stood there, teeth bared in a mix between a grin and a snarl and her ears were constantly twitching, while her body gave off in incredible heat it was nearly enough to keep Riful and Duff away while at the same time causing her red cloak to sway in the heat waves. The silver eyes woman screamed and howled at the agonising pain being subjected to her, sadly her scream's brought nothing but a cruel demented smile to her young tormentor's face.

"I remember you. Yes, yes I definitely do… you were there that night, I can still remember your voice, you were the one who killed my aunt. Now you will suffer as they did. We had done nothing to you! And you and your kind killed them all!" Aithne shouted and she wrapped her tail around the claymores arm and squeezed the force so great it easily crushed the Claymores toughened bones like brittle twigs leaving burns on the skin as the tail was white hot. "You people stole my family from me!" Aithne was not thinking clearly, she couldn't see Riful nor Duff standing at the door. She only thought of making this woman suffer.

Duff was nearly frightened and disturbed at the sight. He had no idea that the little child he knew was capable of such cruelty. Riful stood silent taking in the scene, not horrified as such but definitely taken aback. She had not yet seen such this side to the pup. Again the hellhound had astounded the Abyssal. Now the question was, should she stop her or let the torture of the Claymore continue…

Riful didn't get the chance to decide as the younger girl raked her claws across the woman's face, ruining one of her eyes, nearly taking the damn thing out of its socket. The Claymore screamed louder and louder and was able to get a few words out also.

"Damn you! Damn you and your Filthy Mongrel people!" The woman's Yoki began to flare abruptly as her features changed and distorted slightly. Something in the room changed as a sudden burst of Yoki energy hit them all sending them back a few steps, she had let her restraint go and unleashed all her Yoki at once. Aithne was still seeing red and didn't know the danger she was in, she growled at the new development and her ears were flush against her head. The chains holding the Claymore broke as if they were paper and something larger than the woman that was held up hit the floor.

The arm what Aithne had crushed was now a long whip like appendage, the other was also no longer human in appearance though it extended downward from her elbow in a large blade that ended in a point, perfect for spearing enemies. Her body had a number of plates on it for protection against other claymore blades, her face was more beastly then before and so were her legs. They appeared to have been designed for leaps then for speed.

In the rage and confusion of the awakening, the former Claymore took a look around the room and when her eyes locked with Aithne's something snapped within her. She charged at the young girl who could only look on in fright. The Hellhound could not sense Yoki as a Claymore did but she was able to 'Feel' something at the moment, a sixth sense if you wanted to call it that, something that told the girl that this thing was more powerful than her.

The new awakened didn't get close to the child as it was restrained by Riful's ribbons. The Abyssal slowly walked closer to Aithne and the former Claymore, she then began to examine the awakened even as she struggled against the bonds with all her might.

"Interesting… I had no idea that something like this was even possible. Hmm, I would let you live, but you my dear, are far too weak to be of any use to me." The Abyssal turned to her young charge. "Aithne, she is yours to finish, but do it quickly. I do not wish to hold her back any more than necessary."

The Hellhound was still staring at the Former Claymore in shock. She had never seen an awakening before and the whole ordeal had shocked her. Riful called out to her again and snapped her out of her stupor causing the child to look to the Abyssal. She nodded her head in approval and Aithne leapt at the newly awakened Claymore, sinking her teeth into its throat and racking her claws across any part she could reach.

Riful saw that it would take the little Hellhound a while to kill the awakened, so she gave a helping hand and used her ribbons to weaken the former Claymore making it easier for the girl. When the awakened was finally dead and gone, Aithne was completely exhausted. She had used up too much energy with her Spirit Blaze and the emotional stress of the day, not to mention that she wasn't fully recovered from the attack she had sustained from Duff earlier.

"You did very well, Aithne." Riful praised as she patted the Hellhound on the head. Aithne straightened her back and left, not looking Riful or Duff in the eye. The Abyssal was worried for the child, she was not acting like herself.

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><p>A few days later Riful's concern grew. She hadn't seen the child since the incident, and she was sure that she hadn't eaten anything either. So the Abyssal made her way to Aithne's room not even knocking when she entered. The room was in complete disarray, the bed was torn to splinters with large groves torn away from the wood, the solid rock wall was also missing pieces where it was clear Aithne's bone tail had sliced area's and her claws tore away pieces.<p>

Sitting atop the reined bed was the culprit of the destruction. Aithne was huddled atop the mound of bed pieces, her knees up to her chest while her arms wrapped around them with her tail wrapping around herself. Her hood was up over her ears which were noticeably twitching under the fabric.

"I hate them…" She whispered, "I hate them all. I want them all to die, the ones who destroyed my village, the ones who stole my FAMILY. But I'm too weak. Why am I so weak…?" her hands tightened around her arms while deep in her chest she began to growl.

"You will be able to someday but as you are now, you'd only be killed. Ill make you strong. Strong enough to kill them and get your revenge." Riful comforted as she climbed the mound and brought her arms around the saddened child.

"It isn't revenge I want." Aithne responded as she turned her head to look at the Abyssal, it was clear that she had been crying over the last few days. "It's justice."

"Well, then let's get started on your training." Riful smiled as she pulled an apple out of seemingly thin air and handed it to Aithne. "Bit first, you need to eat."

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><p>It had been months, nearly a year, since Aithne had begun her training with Riful. Gone was her carefree and happy-go-lucky attitude, which was now replaced with a more broody and melancholic one. The Abyssal of the West was saddened by this, and thought of a solution, she had decided that all three of them would head into the town. By this time Aithne was a few inches taller than Riful and was standing at the top of the balcony, her red cloak was swaying in what little wind there was.<p>

The Abyssal walked straight up to her and wrapped her arms around her middle, hugging her from behind. "We are heading into town today."

"Why?" Was the response. These days, the Awakened was lucky if she even got one answer.

"Because I'm tired of your moping. You used to be happy and childish, and I miss that. You are still a child and you should act like one." Riful chided as she removed her arms and stood next to the Hellhound.

"I don't have time for fun- Ouch" She hadn't even finished her sentence before Riful smacked her on the head.

"We are going, now." The awakened was already striding away, a smile on her face.

Aithne looked at the door she has walked through and muttered "That really hurt. Clipped my ears and everything, damn it, now they won't stop ringing." As she rubbed her ears hoping the ringing would stop

The trip to the town was remarkably short. It was a wonder how they didn't know there was a monster that fed on their innards living a few dozen kilometres away. Once they entered the gates, Riful gripped Aithne's hand, Duff acted as the 'elder brother' in there cover story. Aithne was forced to keep her hood up to avoid people spotting her ears but she had no problem with it.

While Riful was looking through some of the stalls for new dresses, the Hellhound managed to slip away and was left to wander on her own. She made her way to the centre of town where she found a massive statue of two people standing back to back, with wings stretching outwards on one side. She was so engrossed in the statue that she didn't notice the person coming up behind her.

"So you like the statue? Want to know more about it?" An elderly woman asked leaning over her walking stick. Aithne nodded in response hoping that the woman wasn't blind also. "Well, it is a statue of the twin goddesses Teresa on the right and Clare on the left. They are celebrated and honoured all across the land, with people bringing offerings to them for a good harvest or for long life… Though at my age one prays for a peaceful end."

"Thank you." Aithne told the woman, as she returned her gaze back to the statue. Her tail, which she wrapped around her waist so people wouldn't see it, tightened when she remembered Clare and Teresa. She smiled and hoped that her friends were alright, she was still sad that she had left but was happy that she had met Riful… maybe she was right, maybe she _was _moping.

"What has you finally smiling?" Speak of the Devil, Riful was suddenly beside her sitting on the stone wall in front of the statue. "I have missed that smile. But I am jealous that it isn't me who did not give you it."

Still smiling Aithne turned to her companion "I was thinking about this statue. I knew someone called Clare and Teresa and the statue reminded me of them."

"Oh then I guess this you won't want this." Riful held up a book in her hands. "It's about your people… Hellhounds."

Aithne's eyes lit up and her hands instantly moved to take it from her, but the book was moved away from her reach.

"I'd like to think you were taught manners." The abyssal spoke with a teasing voice.

Aithne's smile now faded to an unhappy frown, "Please may I have the book…?" It was swiftly placed in her hands and she immediately opened it to see what was inside. It was full of histories and stories that parents would tell their 'pups', of how the 'terrible Hellhounds' would sneak into towns and take bad children to the 'Inferno' to devour them. Aithne couldn't help but laugh at how the Humans would misunderstand them.

"So, how much of that is truth?" Riful lent forward to view the page her companion was reading.

"Not much actually. We don't even eat humans. I don't know how you do it Riful, they just taste… bad." Aithne laughed. "Where did you find this book?"

Riful stood from the stone wall and turned to Aithne. "A person was selling a bunch of trinkets and I saw the cover. Nothing more than that. There is also a special blacksmith in the town, I wonder if he could make, this?" She took a bunch of pages and turned them till Aithne was looking at a picture of a warrior with a black sword. She read the passage out loud.

_'In times long past when Hellhounds did not have their infamous reputation, they were quite happy coinciding with humans in fact. The Hellhound were also a warrior race, and were one of the most agile and fierce, before the Claymore's. Their ferocity in battle matched only by their loyalty to whom they protected. In battle they wielded a special obsidian sword forged from the bone of their tails, which in itself was a dangerous weapon._

_It isn't known how the sword is forged as the smithing method was kept a close guarded secret. But there is rumour of people outside of the 'Pack' were privy to some methods of Hellhound smithing._

_The Hellhounds seemed to vanish one day, no one knows where they are, or even if they are still alive. Some say, that on a full moon you can still hear them, crying out to their lunar god.'_

"We don't have a 'Lunar god'." Aithne spoke in disgust. "Our god is _chained_ to the moon for a crime that he didn't commit."

Riful took the book from her lap and pulled her friend up by the hand "There is a smith here. With a black blade on his wall."

This got the young Hellhounds interest and she allowed herself to he pulled along by Riful to a house near the outskirts of the town, the banner outside read 'Sword and the Stone'. When the door was pushed open a little bell rang signalling to the owner that there were customers. Inside was spacious, the walls were lined with all kinds of weapons and armours and it was much too warm inside for normal humans because of the furnace, but to Aithne the heat was pleasant.

Up on the wall, over the front desk was a smaller Katana, as black as night. There was only one thing it could be, a Hellhound blade.

The owner of the shop came out from the back cleaning his hands with a cloth, he was well into his forties with a salt and pepper beard and greying hair. "Hello, and welcome to the Sword and the Stone, finest blade makers in all the land. My name's Jaune and how can I-" He took one look at his two customers. "Um, are you two kids lost?"

"No, we are curious about that blade." Riful pointed to the sword sitting above the desk.

Jaune tilted his head to look at it also. "It was a gift actually. From a very important friend."

"Like me?" Aithne pulled her hood back and showed her ears to him and unfurling her tail.

The smith was astounded "I didn't think any of you still existed…" He reached a hand out and Aithne growled at him causing him to pull his hand back quickly lest he want a few less fingers.

"Sorry, but I don't trust easy anymore." She told him before asking more kindly. "Where did you get the sword?"

"Oh, Well… One day back in my youth I found a person lying face down in the dirt. I was raised to help anyone that needed it, so I helped him and brought him back to my house. When he came too, I thought he was going to maul me... But he was kind enough once he opened up a little. He was severely injured and nearly lost his right leg and arm, he said he was attacked by a group of Yoma." He reminisced.

"Anyway, he had to stay with me for a few months while he recovered. It should have taken a normal person a lot longer, but he said he was a quick healer. As it turned out he was also a smith, and a damn good one at that, he taught me things and my smithing had never been better. But his own blade was cracked and it didn't take a feather to break it in two, so he taught me how to fix it. Well, I say fix but in the end he had be break it and smith the two pieces into a dagger and a short katana. Once he was all better, he left the blade here saying that I should use it as a symbol that improvement is never out of reach."

"Where's the other blade?" Riful questioned, "You said that you had made two swords from the original."

Jaune reached behind and unsheathed a small black dagger. "Here is the dagger. I keep it on me encase I need to protect myself."

"Can you make a blade from scratch?" Aithne questioned "If you had my tail, could you make a blade?"

"I think so. Your tails _do _grow back, right?" he asked.

The Hellhound nodded and took the dagger, the blade was the same black that she knew from her time in the village and there was no guard on it either. Aithne held it in her right hand and took her tail with the left, she put the dagger on one of the connections between the bones and hesitated.

She tried again and had the same reaction… The girl was unable to cut off her tail. "You'd better cut it off. I don't just can't."

"…Why?" The smith asked.

The girl glared at him "It's my tail! It's important to me! How would you like it if I asked you to hack off a leg?"

Jaune took the dagger and, mercifully, cut the tail with precision and speed. Aithne was sure that had he not used a Hellhound blade it wouldn't have been such a clean cut.

Once it was off Aithne felt… lighter and empty. And promptly lost her balance and fell backwards swinging her arms to try and regain her balance and failing.

"Oh no." She whispered and attempted to get back to her feet. As soon as she straightened her back she fell forward and flailed her arms looking for something to grip to hold herself up but missed the desk by an inch and fell on her face. Gripping the top of the counter she managed to drag herself to her feet and didn't fall over this time. Riful couldn't stop giggling at her friends antics, yes she felt for her friend… but this was too funny.

Finally seeing that Aithne was never going to manage on her own, Riful grabbed her arm and let the girl use her as a crutch. "Is it really that bad?"

Aithne looked at the Abyssal. "You have never had a tail… It is another limb and it is the thing I use to help me balance. It will take a while to get use to not having a tail anymore."

The smith took measurements to be sure that the blade would be perfect for Aithne. He knew the blade length would be standardised but the grip and guard would have to be made for her if she wanted to wield it efficiently.

As they were heading to the door Jaune called out "How will I contact you when the blade is done?"

"You won't." Riful told him, turning and giving him an innocent smile that was anything but. "Will be back for it."

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><p><em>Okay, chapter end. Leave a review (if anyone is actually reading this) if you liked it and if you have any thoughts. I love getting feedback for a story.<em>


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